In general, the upcoming rate announcement and the press conference can cause anything. A sharp decline or a surge is usually expected, but there have been flat reactions to the events.
Economic Calendar
On Wednesday, the top event of them all will take place. The US Federal Reserve will announce its Federal Funds Rate. The central bank is expected to keep the rate at 5.50%. Moreover, note the follow up press conference of the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell. The events are scheduled for 19:00 and 19:30 GMT.
After the US reveal their policy, the rest of the world decides how to react on Thursday. Namely, the Swiss National Bank at 08:30 GMT, the Bank of England at 12:00 GMT and the European Central Bank at 13:15 GMT are all set to make rate announcements. The CHF, GBP and EUR are set to act to the rate announcements.
However, in most cases these banks do not surprise the financial markets. Moreover, they are all expected to follow the example of the Fed and keep their rates unchanged.
Meanwhile, note that the ECB President and Vice President are set to host a press conference at 13:45 GMT. Sometimes Christine Lagarde makes comments that impact the Euro and European stock indices.
On Friday, the markets could move if one of the Markit Institute Flash Services and Manufacturing PMI survey results reveal a surprise. Starting from 08:15 GMT up to 14:45 GMT the institute will release data for Eurozone countries, the United Kingdom and the United States.
USD/JPY hourly chart analysis
A potential surge above 146.00 and the 200-hour SMA could be slowed down by round price levels or the weekly R1 simple pivot point at 147.73, before the 150.00 mark would be reached.Meanwhile, a decline of the US Dollar against the Yen would have to pass the 145.00/144.50 levels and the weekly simple pivot point at 144.67. Further below, also round levels might impact the pair, before 07. December level of 141.63 and the weekly S1 pivot point are reached.
Hourly Chart
USD/JPY daily chart's review
On the daily candle chart, the USD/JPY passed below the support of the 200-day simple moving average. Meanwhile, the recent fundamental recovery has ignored the 144.60/145.95 support and resistance range.In general, fundamentals from the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve are impacting the broader picture of the financial instrument.
Daily chart
Before the Fed announcement, traders were 54% short, but pending orders in the 100-pip range around the current rate were 55% to sell.